COVID-19 Tragically Zeroes In On Rep. Ken Buck’s Weld County

Rep. Ken Buck, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

9NEWS reported last night that Weld County is being hit very hard by the expanding COVID-19 pandemic, now tied for the most number of deaths in the state so far–a tragic distinction disproportionate to the county’s population:

Weld County is tied for the highest number of deaths in the state related to COVID-19. 16 people have died in the area. The county also has one of the largest number of cases, even though the number of people who live there is far less than other counties.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says there are 329 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Weld County, roughly the same number as El Paso County. The population of Weld County is nearly 400,000 less… [Pols emphasis]

Patients with COVID-19 symptoms now crowd the emergency rooms. Steven Loecke is the Chief Medical Officer for several Banner Health hospitals in Northern Colorado. He says the hospital in Greeley is seeing the most action.

Although the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic necessarily has enormous political implications, and the response to the outbreak by government authorities from the President of the United States to the smallest municipalities is a principal factor now in every voter’s decisionmaking, even the most partisan political diehards can agree that significant components of the response to the pandemic have been carried out with overwhelming bipartisan agreement–most recently the massive $2.2 trillion stimulus bill to blunt the effects of shutting down large parts of the economy to contain the disease.

With that said, the “resistance” to public health measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmingly come from one political party, Republicans–including President Donald Trump himself until he was belatedly convinced to take the crisis seriously. In Colorado, Rep. Ken Buck, who also serves as chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, has enthusiastically led the opposition to the statewide stay-at-home order by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. In Congress, Buck’s repeated votes against the successive coronavirus relief packages–in one case one of only two votes against in the entire chamber–have significantly raised Buck’s national profile, earning him cable news appearances and adulation on the far right.

As readers know, Rep. Ken Buck served as the District Attorney of Weld County before his election to Congress, and Weld County is one of the two population centers of his district along with similarly conservative but more affluent Douglas County.

Folks, we don’t want to spell this out. If we do, some in the chattering class will say it’s “too soon.”

But how can you not connect these dots? And how can the resulting outrage not transcend politics?

These are hard words to write. But to not write them would be the greater disservice to our readers.

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25 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

  1. davebarnes says:

    Only 10 days until GOPers can attend packed Easter services and MAGA.
    Hopefully, Ken Buck will attend.

  2. bullshit! says:

    "Too soon" is the cry of the guilty conscience.

  3. dan axelrod says:

    I have zero copulations to give. 

  4. Moderatus says:

    Disgusting socialists. He who trades their liberty for security deserves neither! We have destroyed the future of whole generations so Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and Jared Polis can tell us what's best.

    The cure is worse than the disease!! I'd rather risk coronavirus than guarantee the economy is destroyed!! What have we done! The America we know and love is lost I'm afraid……you liberals will hate this future too mark my words!…………

  5. Moderatus says:

    Democrats want all Americans jobless and waiting in bread lines!! It's your DREAM!!!

  6. MichaelBowman says:

    You’d think the dude who lives in Weld County, the richest agricultural county in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, leads the state in the value of agricultural products sold, and is typically in the top ten richest overall nationally – and the largest county in his congressional district- might buy a clue?

    There are over 3,000 farms in Weld County; more than 20% of the farms have annual sales in excess of $100,000.

    Coronavirus hits already struggling US farmers: ‘We’ve stopped saying it can’t get worse’

    U.S farmers have endured a slew of financial hardships over the past few years. 

    The U.S.-China trade war sent scores of farmers out of business.Record flooding inundated farmland and destroyed harvests. And a blistering heat wave stunted crop growth in the Midwest. 

    Now, the coronavirus pandemic has dealt another blow to a vulnerable farm economy, sending crop and livestock prices tumbling and raising concerns about sudden labor shortages.

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